Trials of a Saiyan

Dragon Ball Z © belongs to Akira Toriyama

Chapter 1: Gohan's New Friend

Exactly one year has passed since the events of the Cell Games. Gohan had been focusing mostly on helping his mother, ChiChi, take care of his new infant baby brother, Goten. Also he had been keeping up with his studies, instead of training to please his mother. Since Goku had died, he didn't really want to displease his mother wishes of him becoming a scholar. But studying 24/7 isn't really what a Saiyan does best.

One quiet evening as the sun was setting, Gohan was up in his bedroom doing homework. Or at least he was supposed to be doing his homework. The half-breed Saiyan sighed as he used his perfectly sharpened pencil to doodle on a loose leaf piece of paper. He let out another breath and looked up out the window as his mind wandered back to his father. Of course he missed his father, Goku. What twelve year old boy wouldn't? His father had always gotten him out of studying and was just an amazing person. Of course he missed Goku. He stood up from his desk and stretched his muscled arms out, still watching at the sunset from his window. He contemplated on skipping a few minutes of homework just to get some fresh air.

'Mom's probably busy with Goten so she won't notice…' He said in his mind.

He opened his bedroom window and quickly flew off shutting his eyes as he soared through the almost dark sky. He flew off a few miles with no destination. Without even noticing, Gohan landed on a familiar land. To be more specific he landed on where the arena of the Cell Games once was. Not wanting to go back home just yet, he landed on a hill and laid back as he gazed upon the sky which was now officially dark. He began to count the stars to clear his mind. As he did, his eyes landed on a big star. A really really big star. Was this even a star at all?

Gohan sat up slowly keeping his eye on the gigantic thing in the sky. He could clearly now tell it was not a star. His eyes widened slightly when he saw it coming closer. Actually, it appeared to be falling at great neck speed.

"What is that thing?" He mumbled to himself.

As the thing came closer he realized what it was. It was a Space Pod, just like the one Vegeta and Nappa used to arrive on Earth. Or like the one Goku used to get off of Namek. But why couldn't he sense the energy of it? There had to be someone in it. Lost in thought, Gohan, didn't notice when the pod crashed into the ground about 150 feet away from him.

….

The pod crashed deep into the rocky ground. The certain person inside it smiled weakly.

"I'm free…" She fragilely declared.

She coughed up saliva and blood left in her system from her previous encounters. But it didn't matter, she was finally free. Using the remains of her energy, she kicked the hatch of her Space Pod off and pulled herself out of it. Only having the strength to make it halfway, her twelve year old body collapsed on the rocky ground. But of course the young girl smiled victoriously. She was nobody puppet now.

….

Gohan's eyes were wide in shock when he approached the crater. He saw a girl just lying there. She was either unconscious or dead. From her body structure he could tell she was girl and a young girl at that. Her spiky bangs covered her face, and her body appeared to be in a terribly damaged state.

"What in the world?" Gohan questioned.

He cautiously jumped into the crater and slowly approached her. Her energy was low, extremely low. Gohan could barely sense it. He looked down and saw something connected to her lower back begin to twitch. Though since it was dark, it was hard to tell what she looked like.

'I'd better help her, it's what dad would have told me to do.' He thought.

Gently, he lifted her up in his arms and began to float out of the crater, completely ignoring the fact she had just fallen out of the sky. He began to fly off slowly, not knowing what he would tell ChiChi about finding this girl.

'I'll just keep her in my room till I can figure out what to tell mom.'

As he was flying, he began to hear light grunting. He looked down at this girl's face which was beginning to twitch. He decided to stop and set her on the ground until she woke up. The twelve year old watched as a pair of grey eyes opened, the left being paler than the right. They shifted until they met up with his coal black ones. A wide grin spread across Gohan's lips.

"Oh good! You're up!"

The girl didn't register anything at first, only staring at this odd boy lethargically. Then, as she gathered her bearings, panic settled in. Without any warning, the girl threw a right hook at Gohan. Using his honed reflexes, Gohan easily dodged the blow.

"Whoa, what the heck are you doing?!" He demanded.

Breathing heavily, the girl glared hellfire at the demi-Saiyan. It was then that Gohan noticed something unwind from her waist and begin to lash around behind her. A tail! A dark, bushy tail!

'She's a Saiyan!' He screamed mentally.

Her knees began to shake violently as she held herself up. Gohan stared at her in utter shock. How could she be a Saiyan? Vegeta said there weren't any left. Wiping the blood from her mouth, the girl narrowed her eyes. Gohan put his hands up defensively, trying to assure her that he wasn't a threat.

"Alright please listen to me, I don't want to fight you." He assured. "I only want to help."

Ignoring his previous comments, she began to create a small blast in her hand. Gohan took notice of the growing, glowing ball of light. But it quickly turned back into nothing, and the girl fell forwards unconscious. He let out a breath and looked around. He obviously knew he couldn't just leave her there. Right now she was defenseless and not a true threat to him, so he picked her up once more, and flew off towards his home.

….

Blinking herself awake once more, she noticed her change of surroundings. She was in a small room, on a bed and she didn't recognize a thing. Quickly, she tossed the blanket that covered her body on the ground. She sat herself up at full speed then jumped off the bed. She was wobbly at first. She began to stumble back against a bookshelf causing many books to fall on the ground.

"Where the hell am I?" She wondered.

"I can answer that." A friendly voice addressed.

Gasping lightly she looked to the side and saw Gohan sitting on the ground smiling. She growled loudly, recognizing him as the boy from before. Following her first instinct she attempted to rush at him only to fail by losing her balance and beginning to fall on the ground. Before she hit the ground she felt an arm wrap around her stopping the fall. She looked back up to realize Gohan had stopped her from falling. She tore herself away from his grasp and glared at him.

"I'm not going to hurt you I promise. Trust me, you're safe here with me." Gohan alleged.

She moved her glance to the ground with her guard all the way up. She kept silence to herself for a while as Gohan studied her features. Her hair was long and a bit messy. It was a deep brown color that was spiky from the top and passed her elbows in waves. Her skin was a light tan color, and her figure was built and lean. He looked to her face, her nose was sharp just as the rest of her features. But the thing that caught his attention the most was her eyes. Her eyes were a stormy grey color and her left eye was paler then her right. Although he admired her eyes, he couldn't look away from a scar she had. A light pale pink scar that which extended from her forehead, down her left eye, and stopped at the middle of her left cheek.

A\N: Cover Photo is her at age 18, but it's almost the same as now. And you can check my deviant art account (link in profile) to see much more drawings of her. (GOING THERE MAY GIVE SPOILERS TO THE STORY!)

"I don't…you…it." She stammered in a whisper. She looked back to Gohan and balled up her hands into fists. "I don't trust anyone but myself." She admitted.

Gohan scratched the back of his head in sheer awkwardness. Of course this girl wouldn't trust him right off the bat. But he couldn't let her go in her condition.

"I just meant… um…" He shifted his glance to her tail, which was loosely lashing around behind her.

She caught his glance which angered her, "What do you keep looking at!? Have you never seen a tail before?!"

He jumped back a bit from her outburst. 'She certainly acts like a Saiyan.' He thought.

"Well I actually used to have a tail. Uh…I'm like you. Kind of. My name is Gohan."

"I didn't ask… but what do you mean like me?" She asked.

"Well I know you're a Saiyan, your tail kind of gives it away. I'm a Saiyan too, a half Saiyan actually. I can even become a Super Saiyan—"

She began to chuckle which caused him to stop talking. Leaning back on the wall of his room, she crossed her arms and a smirk etched on her lips.

"You're actually amusing, that's nothing but legend." She stated.

Gohan blinked, finding it hard to believe that any Saiyan didn't believe in the existence of Super Saiyans. As far as he could remember, from his interactions with Vegeta, all Saiyans held the belief of the legendary status.

The irritated Saiyan female felt her eye twitch. "What?!"

"Nothing. I just never met a Saiyan who didn't believe in Super Saiyans before."

She snorted and looked away from him. "Well, now you have."

Judging from her attitude, Gohan knew words would do nothing for her. So, standing up, the champion of the Cell games decided to show her. Now that he was able to control it, it wasn't much of a problem. The girl moved her head slowly to look back at him. He had changed the grin he had on his face into a serious, focused expression. Her eyes widened at what she saw before her very eyes. His hair was flashing from black to blonde, his eyes were changing from coal to teal, and his arms along with his legs buffed up a little more then their regular muscled form.

She gasped in shock, 'Unreal.'

Completing the transformation, the girl covered her eyes from the golden aura surrounding the half-breed's body.

"No, I refuse to believe it. Gohan isn't even a Saiyan name. And this… it isn't real! It isn't!" She shouted.

Gohan let out a breath falling out of his Super Saiyan state.

"I can't quite figure you out, you know."

The girl stayed quiet, 'Years, I tried and tried to do the impossible… and I was too weak.'

She shook her head and snapped back into reality. She looked at Gohan who was still staring curiously at her.

"How did you learn where to do that?" She ranted.

"My father taught me."

She nodded and crossed her arms, "Take me to your father then."

A small frown appeared on Gohan's features, "I wish I could, but I can't, he's gone."

Whatever words that sat on her tongue died, and the Saiyan girl became stiff. A twinge of guilt hit her heart but she masked any guilt she had quickly.

"I see. Then you will teach me."

Gohan, being his father's son, happily agreed to train her.

"Well sure, I don't mind but it's not easy. Um, can I at least know your name and where you came from?"

She let out a long breath, "My name is Kinoko. I am a Saiyan. I have nothing left. That's all you need to know."

Gohan's eyes widened just a bit, "Nothing?"

Kinoko turned and glared daggers at him, "That's what I said isn't it?!"

"Right sorry," He apologized. Gohan recognized, from the past experiences with Vegeta, you shouldn't disagree with a Saiyan. "Alright Kinoko, I can't let you go in your condition and my mom will most likely flip out when she sees you so just stay in my room till I know what to tell her."

"When will you teach me?" she asked, looking out the window at the dark night sky.

"I promise we'll start training tomorrow, you need to recover first."

"Very well then."

Another moment of silence passed for the twelve year olds. Gohan seemed very interested in Kinoko for some reason. He opened his mouth to tell her something but quickly closed it. Since she had a smart remark about everything he didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"Could I just ask you another question?"

Not turning to look at him she only nodded.

"Okay, what happened to your face?" He asked in a non-rude way.

She still didn't look back to him.

"I was close to asking you the same thing." Kinoko muttered.

He blinked, "I just meant, your scar."

Kinoko sighed and sat down on the ground as she began to shut her eyes.

"It's a story for another time."

Gohan nodded. He didn't want to pry. He took notice of her clothing which was completely torn up and broken. She had on female battle armor much different than the ones he has seen Vegeta wear. She also looked like could use a meal. Since she was a Saiyan she must love food.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

She opened her eyes and look at him once more, "what? Do you want to poison me?"

He chuckled lightly, "No. My mom's a great cook. And I figured you might be."

She rose an eyebrow but nodded, "alright."

Gohan turned to leave but then he turned back around.

"Oh and, would you like to change your clothes?"

She glared at him, "what's wrong with the clothing I have on?!"

He put out his hands out and laughed nervously.

"N-nothing," he stuttered, "it's just, they're torn up and kinda dirty." He mumbled. "You might be more comfortable in something else."

She rolled her eyes, "Thanks for the concern." She stated sarcastically, "but if you don't recall I have nothing to change into."

He smiled softly and rubbed the back of his neck, "it's alright you can borrow some of my stuff. I don't mind."

"Borrow your stuff?" Kinoko repeated.

Gohan walked over to his closet and motioned her to follow him.

"Sure, why not? Just pick anything while I go get you something to eat."

Kinoko grabbed one of his shirts and stared at it curiously. "This is what you wear?"

"Yup, be right back."

Kinoko watched as the half-breed walked out of the room. She wondered why he was being so hospitable. A Saiyan shouldn't be that nice, not even a half Saiyan. But then again nobody had ever spoken to her like he did. He was nice, he was different. Quickly she shook away the good feeling Gohan gave her. Once she would become a Super Saiyan, she'd be on her own again.

….

Gohan quietly tiptoed into the kitchen recognizing his mother and baby brother were most likely sleeping. After all it was pretty late and he saw no sign of them. He grabbed a green bowl and began to fill it with rice ChiChi had made earlier.

"If she's a Saiyan like me or dad, Kinoko will love mom's cooking." He laughed to himself.

He filled the bowl all the way to the top and put the pot lid back on the pot which held the large amount of rice. He turned around and lightly gasped when he saw ChiChi standing there.

"Mom!" He yelped.

He hid the bowl behind him so ChiChi wouldn't notice it.

"Why are you up, Gohan?" she asked.

"I was just getting a drink of water."

Of course he felt bad about lying to ChiChi, but he couldn't tell her about Kinoko. He knew his mother and he was sure she'd freak out if she realized that he had a female Saiyan in his bedroom.

"Alright Gohan, did you finish all your homework?"

"Done and done," he assured.

ChiChi smiled happily, "That's my Gohan, now get back to bed."

"Right, goodnight mom."

He ran towards the stairs of his home and began to climb them. He let out a long breath of relief.

'I gotta be more careful, I'll just wait for the right moment to tell mom." He said in his mind.

He nodded to himself and walked back to his room where Kinoko was waiting for him.

….

Kinoko had put on some of Gohan's clothing which fit her a bit loose. She sat on the ground once again with her knees to her chest. She rested her chin on her knees and shut her eyes as she awaited Gohan to return. She was still feeling weird about being in the home of a boy she had just met. But he seemed nice enough. He seemed gentle and different than anyone she has ever faced.

But Kinoko would never show her feelings. She was raised to believe that feelings were the biggest weakness any warrior could have.

And Kinoko was not weak.

What did you all think? I know I promised my readers a Goku\Twin sister story, but that will be after this one. I hope you liked it. Remember, it's only a fanfiction so it isn't real. This story will be taking place during the Buu saga with a fully trained Gohan so watch out!

Also if you want to know more about Kinoko then look you can go to deviantART and look me up as C4tloverrr. (art done by yours truly)

And I can't take all the credit. A special big thanks to the brilliant, Kitsunelover300. Without her this story wouldn't have been created.

Next Chapter: Gohan and Kin start training.

Please don't flame and feel free to review.